Abstract

A research exploratory essay is using peer-reviewed sources and your own opinions to synthesize information in order to state a claim. This piece talks about the idea of how accent discrimination in the workforce is implemented. There are people who let their accent define them in the workforce causing them to be treated harshly. There are negative connotations associated with people have accent and some are not able to deal with them.

What an Accent Does

What are accents? Do we let it stop us from being able to make our own decisions or do we let them affect us? A topic that is not talked about often is how accents affect the way in which people are treated in the workforce. Society never questions how people feel when they get rejected from a job or when they are not able to move up in a position because they have a coarse accent. People don’t really emphasize the importance of speech and how something gets pronounced. It is believed that if one has an accent, one must be less intelligent or isn’t able to comprehend the same way as everyone else. In some cases that is true but in others it’s not. You can’t change the way you were taught to speak because it is embedded in you. A lot of the time, this topic doesn’t get enough spotlight because people tend to create presumptions and move on with their lives. Society should be exposed to the accents of individuals and how they get perceived as less intelligent rather than making presumptions.  

Being exposed to the idea of different accents, gives us a chance for others to understand how they were raised and how accents can vary tremendously between others. In “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and The Future Life of Willie Jordan”, June Jordan, a poet, essayist, teacher and activist, asserts that people are ashamed to speak black English or need to perfect their English by addressing societal changes and perceptions. She believes that most people need to decide how they want to be perceived when speaking their dialect of English. It cannot be thrown away simply because one does not understand it. She backs up her claim by stating “as we learn our way around this environment, either we hide our original word habits, or we completely surrender our own voice . . . (Jordan 363).” She educates the readers that one must choose a side when being exposed to the outside world and that it could either limit or open opportunities. In contrast to “Sound Effects: Challenging Language Prejudice in the Classroom”, Walt Wolfram, a sociolinguist at North Carolina State University discusses the claim that accents are not something to be afraid of by addressing people that keep their accent hidden. He wants to emphasize the importance of language discrimination and how it occurs at a very young age. He backs up his claim by mentioning the results of a research study “I like him [points to Steve] because he sounds nice. I don’t like him [pointing to Kenneth] (Wolfram 27).” In this experiment, two little children chose which person they would like their present from, and it happened to be from the person who spoke standard English as opposed to the person with the accent. The child felt that the person with an accent possessed danger and the person with standard English didn’t. The thoughts of these two little children represent how they were failed to be exposed to different accents as they grew up. These types of negative connotations are influenced by what children are taught in school and it shouldn’t be perceived in that way because there are other languages that they need to learn about. 

Other languages will expand children’s mindsets and how they perceive the world.  As they grow up, children get exposed to two different worlds and they are forced to pick a side. This gets backed up by stating “everyone in the room realized distinctive reality of our black lives always has doomed our efforts to be who we been in this country (Jordan 372).” It shows how the students chose to submit a report in black English, and it backfired on them, this adds on to my idea of how black English is not accepted in society. It is seen as unprofessional and not the correct way to speak. Society generalizes standard English and that is not fair to the people who are unable to speak it. This is correlated to the workforce because as I mentioned before you are forced to pick a side depending on the environment you are in. In a professional setting, you must speak in standard English or at least try your best because you are not going to be taken seriously. It’s something one who possesses an accent in the workforce must deal with. Expanding my argument, the author mentions how “children grow up in a world immersed in language with attitudes (Wolfram 28).” As mentioned here, they get taught standard English all throughout their lives and when they hear something unfamiliar, they automatically think it’s wrong. It gets engraved in their mind and they don’t seem to get away from those ideas. This is related to the workforce because teachers are told how to teach and enforce ideas of standard American English. The curriculum is meant to teach them how to speak and write in standard English and how they can apply that to the future. As they grow up, they are already accustomed to the idea of standard American English because of all the enforcements done by the school system. These enforcements affect the way workers with an accent are perceived. 

Many stereotypes are thought of when walking into the workforce with an accent. In “Accent Bias: How Can We Minimize Discrimination in The Workplace?”, Dr. Pragya Agarwal challenges the idea of how people get discriminated against in a working environment and they don’t even realize the cause of it, is their accent. She wants to stress how “accents are an integral part of our identity (Agarwal 1).” In this situation, Agarwal makes a personal connection and even though she is not against having an accent, she realizes as her child grows up, he/she might encounter obstacles in the future. Having an accent puts one at a disadvantage because of the negative connotations that are associated with having one. Another aspect of accent discrimination is the hiring process, the phase that leads to getting the job. In “Accents in the workplace: Their effects during a job interview”; Anne-Sophie et.al present their research about how different accents get chosen over another during a job interview. There were a couple of research experiments but one that was significant was with a Midwestern vs. French vs. Colombian accent. They claim that in the hiring stage, “a midwestern accent is more likely to be hired than a candidate with a French or Columbian accent” because it is the closest to standard English (Anne Sophie et al 420). The Colombian accent gets thrown under the bus in the sense that it is foreign because they are a minority. French accents are closely related to European roots, so they are not discriminated as much. This not only brings up the issue of racism but also class. I say this because Europeans are known to have wealth and minorities like Columbians are known to be poor. The argument that gets made in this scenario is that regardless of if you have an accent or not, the “wealthier” accent will be accepted, which is another rising issue that gets pushed under the rug. It is relevant because Europeans will always have the upper hand in situations like these.  

The use of rhetorical questions promotes judgements and stereotypes to be challenged by people who don’t understand why Europeans might have the upper hand. The audience might present stereotypes such as, “Why did I not wish for her to have this particular accent? Is it because I consider it to be inferior in some way? Or, is it because I know that people with certain regional accents are disadvantaged when it comes to career progression and opportunities in life? (Agarwal 1)” This showcases the stereotypes that are thought of immediately when one has an encounter with a person that possesses an accent. They are thought to be uneducated or people think they are not able to comprehend properly. When you have a conversation with a person, you can infer their type of linguistic speech, accents in this case are affiliated with being less intelligent. A simple way to say this is without intelligence; you don’t get hired. The first aspect of getting hired is looking at your speaking skills and if you have an accent, it tells the person hiring you that it will be hard for them to follow what you are saying. This is how accents get dismissed and there is truly nothing one can do about it. In my opinion, hispanic accents are the most discriminated because they don’t get as much exposure in the real-world because of the way society views them. As discussed in the article, “decision makers are likely to view persons with different accents as different from themselves, and consequently to evaluate them negatively (Anne Sophie et al 423).” Through this, we can conclude that employers have a different rubric when it comes to hiring someone with a different accent. Having an accent is a different level of professionalism in the workspace which gets represented by the lack of communication in the environment. If you don’t instill faith in Hispanics or any other minority group, they won’t have a chance to prove their worth. As I said before, there is going to be talent that people who hire will miss out on and it’s because of their judgment towards people who possess an accent. Unfortunately, that is just one of the drawbacks of the hiring process and if employers held people with accents at the same standard as people who don’t possess an accent, they would see that they are equally important in the workforce. 

Due to accents being heavily discriminated many employees have faced severe consequences. In “More Workers Claiming Job Discrimination Over Language, Accents”, Foy talks about accent discrimination occurs with a FedEx truck driver, it gets exaggerated to the point where he gets fired. The article acknowledges the rules of the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and compares it to how the FedEx driver was treated, “. . . co-workers mocked his accent and called him derogatory names. The EEOC said managers failed to take his complaints seriously, making his working conditions intolerable (Foy 1).” Foy claims that the FedEx worker was discriminated against because of his Russian accent and the managers didn’t consider his side of the story, simply because they couldn’t comprehend what he was trying to say. This is going against the rules of the EEOC because workers are not supposed to be discriminated for how they speak. They are supposed to hear both sides of the story and refer back to the rules that the EEOC created and what the requirements were for the job. They can’t assume based on what they think is right without any evidence to back up their claims.  I can sympathize with the FedEx worker because he is not required to speak perfect standard English, there is not much communication necessary, when the purpose of his job is to drive. A manager mentions “. . . employers can enforce English-only rules when it’s crucial for performing a job (Foy 1).” They should not be held accountable for their accent and further, be terrorized for not being able to speak in the workplace. The Russian worker says that he thinks his English is not bad but what he knows is adequate for his required job. He should not be penalized and fired for something that is not an expectation when he first applied for the job. The EEOC is being cruel in reviewing his case because he didn’t do anything wrong to lose his job, their claim has a direct connection to how he experiences accent discrimination. If the EEOC continues to allow this type treatment against workers, there will be a call to action because these workers are being fired for something that is not even required of them. While, this takes place there is nothing being done by the EEOC, they need to be addressed about their wrongdoings. 

Looking at multiple perspectives of accent discrimination, I have come to realize it greatly impacts society today and there are many people who are not able to stand up for themselves. It often gets brushed over by co-workers and people who hold high statuses in the workplace such as managers. While, being exposed to different accents, it allows for us to explore different variations of the original and gain a deeper understanding of the language as shown in “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and The Future Life of Willie Jordan.” She reinforces the idea of how Black English is overlooked and needs to be given more importance. Additionally, the connection between education and the workforce gets made in “Sound Effects: Challenging Language Prejudice in the Classroom”, where she claims that the teachers are responsible for how the child develops their views on accents. Even though, there are various ways people can be discriminated against, one of the main places is in the workforce. In “Accent Bias: How Can We Minimize Discrimination In The Workplace?”, Dr.Pragya acknowledges the stereotypes and judgments that go along with having a coarse accent. In the same way, there is a direct connection to the article “Accents in the workplace: Their effects during a job interview” because there are stereotypes that are present when going through a job interview. On the other hand, due to accents being heavily discriminated against, employees have experienced consequences that are supported by the EEOC in in “More Workers Claiming Job Discrimination Over Language, Accents.” As a result, workers experience language discrimination and it can’t be helped because they are not able to change the circumstances they are under. These circumstances are always held in high regard to how they are treated. With ongoing issues in the workplace, workers should be accepted for the job they are held accountable for rather than how they can speak. The way a person speaks is not something that should hinder worker responsibilities and opportunities. 

Citations

Agarwal, Dr. Pragya. “Accent Bias: How Can We Minimize Discrimination In The Workplace?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 Dec. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/12/30/bias-is-your-accent-holding-you-back/#50cfae611b5a. 

Deprez‐Sims, Anne‐Sophie, Morris and Scott B. “Accents in the Workplace: Their Effects           during a Job Interview.” International Journal of Psychology, vol. 45, no. 6, 2010, pp. 417–426. 

Foy, Paul. “More Workers Claiming Job Discrimination Over Language, Accents.” Insurance Journal, 4 Dec. 2012, www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2012/12/04/272632.htm?fbclid=IwAR0eocysU6R3lBuR2K4uPUb5rAklS8KNodT7WAP8O-Jd5LeTvg0Du2-AkQ4. 

Jordan, June. “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan.” Harvard Educational Review, vol. 58, no. 3, Sept. 1988, pp. 363. 

Wolfram, Walt. Challenging Language Prejudice in the Classroom. Sound Effects. Issue 43 2013, pp. 29-31. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2013/sound-effects